


The Voyage, Rescue Riders Prequel

by rewbis



Series: Rescue Riders Origins [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rescue Riders
Genre: Gen, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25911499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rewbis/pseuds/rewbis
Summary: Dak, Leyla and their Mother, Fjalla. They meet winger and his mum, who adopted Dak and Leyla, pullng them from a shipwreck which takes their Mother.
Series: Rescue Riders Origins [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880503
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1. The Voyage.

Stories are bound together by threads made from lives of each person involved. The threads are intertwined and wound around the tale. As all storytellers know, the beginning of a story makes a big difference to the end. This story starts here, in a temperate valley nestled between two lofty mountains, high above the Southern Viking Seas. Where it ends is yet to be decided.

Two mountains rise high above the ocean, snow covered peaks sheltering the steep slopes below. The island they form has a skirt of sheer cliffs and several waterfalls. From the southern side of the island a broad, flat bottomed valley is visible, likely carved by an ancient glacier. It sits between the two mountains, with forests of pine and fir on its upper reaches and a meandering river sparkling through the green, lush base. We move in to the valley, focusing on signs of human occupation. We pass over the docks, which are a steep walk down sturdy and wide steps to a well-kept road leading past store houses and some farms, up to a cluster of huts arranged around the main hall. All immaculately kept. People are calmly going about their business. 

There are dragons here. An orchard with fly hoppers playing nearby, a larger dragon helping move a cart from a ditch and two more playing above the mountain tops. Move in on the main hall, with two storeys. A spacious balcony above the imposing front door. Into the bedroom where we see an open trunk almost filled with clothing, a few scattered items remain on the big bed, being considered by the owner of the room. Tall, strong and red haired, a single braid running down her back. Clad in green travelling clothes, tunic and trousers with soft boots to her calf. She places the final few things inside and tries to close the lid. Using some force, it shuts. She picks up a brown leather satchel with a red clasp and wears it over her shoulder. She sighs and looks around the room, touching a portrait of a younger family (Grandparents, Father and Younger Fjalla each cradling a swaddled baby in), slowly walking out to fondly take in the view from the balcony. Looking down, she lifts herself from reflection and turns back to call:  
“Have you packed yet, kids?”  
A red-headed boy of around 5 years old runs past the open door giggling and wearing skirts on his head. His similarly red-headed twin sister chases after, yelling “Dak! Give them back! Mum, make him stop!”  
Fjalla smiles, and moves to help them both.  
“Come on now, you two. You’re going to have to get along on board the ship. There won’t be space to be this mischievous.”  
“Exactly Mum, that’s why I have to get it all in now!” Dak replies.  
“Tell us more about the boat, please Mum” Pleads Leyla. “Will it be hard to sleep?”  
“Oh, no. After a day of fresh sea air, you two will sleep more soundly than ever before, and the waves will rock you to sleep like a giant cradle.”  
Leyla lets out a big sigh. “Oh, I’m so looking forward to it. It will be a really big adventure!”  
“Yeah, it’s going to be AWESOME!” Dak bursts out, jumping into the air.

Dak looks incredibly bored. Slouched on the rail of the ship, staring at nothing. “This is so totally NOT awesome.” He complains.  
“Come on, Dak. Cheer up. We’re just waiting for the wind to pick up.” Dak’s mother comes to lean next to him. “Why don’t you practice your letters with Leyla?” In the background, we see Leyla poring over a note book propped up by her mother’s satchel, scratching notes with a quill on some paper next to it.  
“Aw, Mum, I thought the trip was going to be exciting. How long are we going to be stuck here?”  
“Just as soon as the weather changes, then we can get going again.”  
“Well I hope it changes a lot, really quickly!”

Dak’s face, squinting in the dark as rain and wind lash across the deck. “This isn’t what I meant!” He yells, clinging to the mast. The ship climbs up huge waves and slides down the other side, lightning flashes. Leyla peeks out from behind the big trunk, clutching the brown leather satchel around her neck.  
“Dragon ho!” Calls the lookout, through the teeth of the storm.  
Fjalla grasps the rail, peering out over the swell. A flash of black dragon hide, spattered with coral and seaweed, rolls past between two wave peaks.  
Horrified, she staggers back. “A Leviathorgen! Captain, we must turn about, NOW!”  
The captain is pulling at the wheel hard, wrestling with the boat. “I’m trying, It’s pulling us along in it’s wake!”  
“At least that means it isn’t attacking!” Yells Fjalla. She grabs the children and opens the trunk, flinging the contents out. “Climb in, now. This trunk is made from dragonwood, it’s strong enough to keep you safe, come what may.”  
“I’m going to try and…” The captain’s voice is cut short as the dragons tail lazily swipes the prow. Cut to black.  
Fjalla floats motionless beneath the waves. Leyla stares, head submerged as Dak is pulling her desperately back into the trunk, now floating by itself, the ship nowhere to be seen. She fights to leap into the water but he holds her, gripping the trunk’s edge with his other hand.  
Cut to black.

The trunk floats on a calm, flat ocean, lid open. The twins slump inside it lifelessly, unmoving, Dak holding Leyla from behind.  
A dragon shadow passes over the trunk. Silence again.  
A sudden swooping and powerful, blue legs and claws grasp the chest, plucking it from the water and up into the sky.

Leyla wakes up in a shaded glade. Dak lies sleeping beside her, on a mossy surface.  
“Dak, Dak, wake up!” Leyla shakes him.  
“What, what? I’m awake.” Dak groggily opens his eyes and focuses on her. He sits bolt upright. “The ship! Where are we?” Looking around, he sees… “A dragon!”  
A small blue dragonling is curled timidly at the edge of the clearing. He roars disconsolately.


	2. Wingers Tale

A close up of Winger, talking to someone we can’t see. He’s inside, it’s dark but seems like a home at night time. He begins talking.  
I guess it began with my Mom, Dad, elder brother and sister. They were the whole world to me. Well, them and my elder brother Zak and sister, Flare. They were there when I first chipped out of the shell, when I first stepped out of the nest. I didn't know what dangers the world could hold back then, because it was filled with them, and only them.  
Dad was just so… solid. He was like the realest thing that had ever been and he loved my Mom so much. She was pretty feisty and had a temper, but they never fought, they just disagreed sometimes. And they always respected each other.   
Zak was really strong and so brave. He was just amazing. Flare was almost the same, but she was way smarter. She sometimes saw things even my Mom didn't. Not that Zak wasn't smart, but he followed his heart more than his head and it got him in trouble.  
We cut to an island. Peaceful. Sun is shining, sea is calm. The island rises from beaches in the east, upwards and further up, until ending abruptly at a tall cliff wall on the west side. After that, sea stacks dot the water around it. Zoom in to the cliff side, racing over the water, almost to the cliff and then soar up, up to...   
Our nest was a cave near the top of a cliff - that doesn’t sound like much, but it was actually pretty cool. We were close to some great fishing waters and there was no way anyone who couldn’t fly could get into our home. That made it feel safe and I guess it’s why Mom and Dad chose it as the place to raise their family. On top of that, the other side of the island had some great forests and canyons which were perfect for racing through. Zak was the fastest, of course, but he let us win, sometimes.  
So there we were, the happiest family in the world. Flying, racing, fishing and having fun. And that’s how I’ll always remember them, in the days before it was taken away forever.

Mom and Dad were away for the day, checking out rumours of a Leviathorgen further north. They’d left us some chores and Zak was in charge. Flare had been blasting holes in a canyon by the woods, digging out a cave for winter. Zak was on fishing duty. I was supposed to be clearing out our cave, but I wanted us to have a competition. We perched on a sea stack near some really big shoals of fish and the idea was to blast the water and see who could get the most fish. I left my chores, met Flare and we flew out to meet up with Zak. It seemed like pretty harmless fun, unless you were a fish.   
Three young dragons playing, skimming the waves and raking up fish from the surface. The smallest fires a blast at the water. Grabs fish. The largest of them spins up in the air, hovers and gathers himself for a mega blast. The orb of powerful energy shoots forth, hurtling into the water, sending up a huge spray and with it, tentacles.

I didn’t know Leviathorgens hate loud noises. This one certainly didn’t enjoy hearing our blasts. I guess it had come to complain about the noise? Or. I don’t know. But Zak’s blast must have hit it and it… lashed out. A tentacle caught Zak, not much but it still knocked him out of the sky. Flare tried to save him but the Leviathorgen had - so many - tentacles and they just dragged her down too.  
That left me. I was higher up and I had no idea what to do. I flew at the thing, blasting it, but I only had one shot left and it just sank in the water. I was too little, I didn’t know what to do. Flare came to the surface briefly. She… yelled at me to fly, get away.   
I didn’t know what to do.  
I thought Mom and Dad would be able to rescue them. I flew as fast as I could north. They weren’t there. I flew further and further and then, there they were. I nearly collapsed when I met them, I’d been flying as fast as I could.  
Mom and Dad got me back to our island but it was too late. We found their bodies washed up on a beach. Dad went out to kill the monster. The following day his body was left on the beach, a single spear of bone sticking straight through his chest. In 24 hours my whole world had fallen apart, all because of my stupid game and one careless mega blast.

Winger sighs. A tear rolls down his face. He gathers himself and continues.  
Mom didn’t speak for a few days. She just held me. Eventually we got hungry enough to move. She decided we’d leave the island. It was just too painful to stay. She had family, a sister away to the east we could stay with for a while. We were both in shock. How could something so devastating happen so suddenly. But I guess life can be like that. We set off.

We see the pair gliding high above the ocean. Mom looks determined. Steady. Winger is uncertain and subdued.  
The second day of travelling we had to go over a wide stretch of water. A human boat was beneath us, but we were way too high for them to spot. We made it to land but there was no shelter. We settled down for the night on a sand spit, me under Mom’s wing.  
Out of nowhere a storm blew up. Waves were crashing up and we were soaked. Mom and I flew up to get above the clouds. Then, through a gap in the rain, Mom saw it. The Leviathorgen was in the water. It looked to be three or four times Mom’s size, speeding through the sea, headed straight for the human boat.  
Mom yelled at it, “No. No one else dies because of you.” It was way too far away to hear.  
I followed her, even though I was so full of fear and confusion. I pushed it all down and flew in behind her, careful of the winds and worried about losing her.  
It was about to grab the boat and Mom timed it perfectly. She wound up and blew a hole in the side of that thing which sent it surging forwards, missing the boat, turning and diving, thick blood staining the water. The boat took a hit from its tail, or something, and went skipping away in the other direction. We hovered, waiting.   
Mom shouted over the storm “Watch out for it spitting a spear!”   
And then there it was, coming head on, jaws wide and a bone spear shooting towards us. Mom and I spun out of the way, but Mom twisted back into the charge, battling the beast with claw and fang, I spat some blasts at it too. She broke from it before it could drag her under, some severed tentacles still hanging from her skin.   
“Back to the shore!” she yelled.   
We went. It followed.  
“If we can get it up on the land, I can kill it.” Mom was breathing heavily.  
“Mom, it’s ok, we can just leave.” I cried.  
“No. This ends today.” She was fierce, angry. Impossible to argue with.  
We flew above the centre of the sandy spit, the waves were huge, almost submerging it completely. We wove in the air, denying an easy shot. The Leviathorgen kept coming, it seemed angry, the tentacles it had left were thrashing the water and it was jumping out of the waves to get to us, humping itself up the beach and rearing its head to try and spear us. Bone spears started flying, 2, 3 zipping past us. Mom let rip with another mega blast and followed with a dive, pinning the huge monster to the sand.  
It was dead. I rolled Mom away from the corpse and tried to clean her up, get her away from the surf.  
When the storm ended, a full moon showed how much it had taken out of her. My Mom had two deep wounds in her chest and was bleeding from lots of small cuts on her back.  
“Winger.” She sounded feverish. “Rescue them. They’re in the water. Find them. Bring them home. I… I need them to be safe.”  
I didn’t understand what she meant. We’d buried Dad, Zak and Flare.  
“Winger, please. Find them.” She pleaded, then passed out.  
I went looking, not knowing why. But I did find something. I found… you guys.

We see now that Winger was in a cave. A fire burns warmly. He is talking to two human children with red hair. The girl sits inside a chest, the lid hanging open, the boy is closer to the fire, poking it with a stick. They are listening to Winger, but look blank.   
I know, you can’t understand me. But it helps to talk about it. To let it out.  
From deeper in the cave, Mom’s head moves out of the darkness, she smiles, sadly.  
“It’s ok, Winger. They can learn. They can be part of our family now. After all, they lost theirs to that thing, too. And you found them. You rescued them and brought them home. We have a family again.”


	3. Summer Alone

_ Two eggs sit in a nest large enough for three. One of the eggs has fallen on its side, a slight crack showing. _

There was a time when some tribes of vikings hunted for dragon eggs.

_ Torchlight flickering and moving in a cave. Viking voices call in panic "they're coming back", "quick, to the boats". _

_ An adult fastfin climbs into the nest, sets the fallen one back up and a year rolls out as they nudge the crack "Cadence! They've taken one of the eggs!" An angry, anguished roar answers his cry. _

They would usually work in teams. They’d scout for a nesting pair Some of them would distract the parents, with fire or food or try and trap them. Others would then carefully sneak into the nest and grab as many eggs as they could, running away before the parents could return.

_ The two parents circle the ship, their egg is held in a cage, spikes facing inwards. A swaggering oaf strides about the deck. " Come on ye beasts. I dare ye to come after it." He grins evilly, brandishing a hammer. "Scrambled eggs for tea!" _

_ The boat pulls into a well defended harbour. Dock hands pull the cage from the boat with ease under the stern eye of the hammer wielder and the anguished gaze of the parents, watching from afar. At the sea wall, large trebuchets festooned with rope and loaded with nets are aimed at them. They take the egg to a large stone building, bars on the window and metal studded door. The door slams shut, echoing. _

They would incubate the eggs, letting the young dragons imprint on one of their children.

_ A baby fastfin, Summer, hatches from the egg into a stone cell. A shy girl, no older than 9, blonde, is shoved in front of her and a fish is slapped into her hands. Her helmet falls over one eye as she smiles nervously at the hatchling. Summer takes the fish and eats, looking unsure. _

_ Later, reins are fitted to Summer. A riding crop and shiny spurs are hanging on a wall, next to a spiked whip and chains. _

_ "This is the training stick." The hammerer instructs a classroom, "each time you want your dragonling to do something, use it. Hard. Remember, they don't have feelings, so you have to use pain to teach them." Several of the viking children are already swinging the clubs around, dangerously close to each other, whacking them on the floor, desks and stuffed dragon toys. The shy girl seems uncomfortable holding hers. The hammerer picks her out and leans in close. "Never forget! These are unthinking beasts! They will eat you in a single bite and feel no remorse. You. Must. Dominate. Them." He turns and leaves. She clutches the club sadly as chaos continues around her. _

There was a time, but no longer. That tribe drew the attention of too many vengeful parents. One dragon managed to find them, unite them and they took that village apart. People learned it was a bad idea to separate parents from their children.

_ A fastfin, badly scarred and embittered, stands on a sea stack, shouting above a gathering storm. "We have all lost children to these monsters. We have all followed them to their stoney lair. And we have all been turned away by their arrows, nets and… The Hammerer. Some have lost more than others." Turning, we see many unhappy dragons, some missing a limb, others with scars, all angry and restless. "We could not do it alone. Today we will work together. We shall take down that fortress brick by brick. We shall root out that monster and melt his hammer to slag, fling him in the ocean and Take. Back. Our. Babies!" Uproar, elation, swooping and bouncing, dragons move as a swarm, splitting into groups to position themselves around the harbour settlement. _

_ "Will your obsession end with this victory?" Asks an aged foreverhorn. _

_ "Look around you. Witness the pain of so many souls, crying out for justice." Cadence snaps at the foreverhorn. "Can you doubt this cause is right?" She sighs. "My obsession has become my life. I no longer have hope for my own younglings. It will be enough for me that this can never again happen, that no more mother's will suffer an empty nest, defiled by these brutes. These remorseless unfeeling monsters." With that, she lifts off, spiralling up into the sky, screaming a battlecry which brings the full force of the dragon army crashing down on the vikings. _

_ Flash of lightning. A burst of fire destroys a trebuchet tower. _

_ Flash again. Vikings pushed into the water by jets and rocks. _

_ Flash. Flash. Flash. rockeaters grip and rip at the stones of the prison. Bars are doing aside, the door falls. _

_ The Hammerer appears, raging. Knocking aside dragons. Cadence swoops down, grapples, lifts. _

_ Flash. The others advance into the dungeon, finding humans, they are merciless. Finding dragonlings, they are amazed. Some stand by their humans. They are knocked aside. Some hide, terrified. They are comforted. Some panic, desperate to escape. They are held until they calm. _

_ Summer and the shy girl are sleeping in a house high above the stone building. Summer has a bridle on, even in sleep. It is tied to the floor. They wake up to the storm. Looking out in awe as the Hammerer is lifted by Cadence. Summer sees someone like her. The shy girls whispers "Daddy?" She means the Hammerer. She considers hiding, but instead chooses to run. Summer wants to stay, to see. The shy girl grabs her training stick. "No. Bad dragon." Steel in her voice. She pulls Summer away from the village, into the treeline. _

_ In the morning, the few remaining vikings stood in ruins. The Hammerer's daughter returns awestruck from the forest edge but her shock shifts to anger. She turns to strike Summer, who flinches. The girl pauses and eyes narrow. "No more dragons. Not here. Not ever again." She shoves summer away. From the only home she had ever known. _

All the time, the rescuers were interviewing the rescued, trying to return them to those who were missing them. Mostly they were successful, as dragons came forward to claim their blood. Others were adopted or found homes nearby. Only Summer slipped through the net. She drifted away, unable to fathom the depth of the betrayal, the rejection. For months she lived from cave to cave, fishing and pining over her lost home, for all that it was just a prison. Until one day,

_ Noise, laughter, whooshing wings… Summer slips from her cave into the water, intrigued by what she might see, who might be there. She’s been alone for such a long time. She stays under the waves to be safe anyway. She can make out a blue… dragon? Zooming around. Something falls from it’s back, a scream, a splash. A girl has fallen into the water. Summer is shocked. The girl… so young, looking kind of… shy. But with red hair. Different. The girl hangs in the water, arms outstretched, eyes closed, in much the same way her mother had, so long ago. Summer feels a bond, she surges forwards, buoying the girl up and lifting her back into the light. She opens her eyes. “Hi… um. Thank you!” _

_ Summer gasps. “You speak dragon? Um, I mean. You’re welcome. You know, you’re really lucky it’s high tide, if it had been lower you might have hit the bottom, it could have been quite painful.” _

_ Leyla smiles and answers. “Oh, you’re right. Did you know the tides are caused by the moon? It’s so amazing that something so high in the sky can affect the waves down here!” _

_ “Wow, I’ve never thought about it like that. I guess you’re right.” _

_ They smile at each other, then Dak and Winger zoom by, laughing. _


End file.
